Aboard the ARK
by AngieTheLuxray
Summary: This is the story of Shadow and Maria's life aboard Space Colony ARK. It starts with Shadow's creation, and ends with Maria's death. This story serves to fill in some of the blanks of Shadow's creation (including why he is a Mobian hedgehog), and show you, the reader, their daily lives. No shipping is involved in this story. T for possible swearing and potential blood (not much).
1. Chapter 1

**Wait, what's this? A fanfic that's not a crossover and is one that Angie actually plans on writing more than two chapters to? THE APOCALYPSE IS COMING! HIDE YOUR MANCHILDREN!**

**But seriously, folks, I'm going to try working on this...well, as long as it gets some reviews and favorites! I'm not trying to bribe, I just want to know that people want to read this. Anyways, enjoy the story!**

**P.S.: There's an OC in this, but he is only in here to explain how Shadow has such potent Chaos abilities, why he knows about the Chaos Emeralds, and why is a Mobian hedgehog when he was made above Earth, which has no Chaos Emeralds or Mobians. Also, I tried to develop him to the point where he is not a Marty Stu, and he is not in any way a self-insert or wish-fulfillment character. He is more powerful than Shadow in this story, but that's only because this Shadow is younger. The Shadow we know from the games could defeat him in a one-on-one fight.**

**Also, disclaimer: The only things I own from this story are the story itself, my ideas, and Demeralme. The rest belong to Sega. Now that that's out of the way, go on.**

In a room stood three figures, having a conversation.  
"So in return for letting me create the Ultimate Life Form that will cure my granddaughter, you," the human scientist says as he points to a floating creature. The creature is colored black with red highlights on his trio of horns and has three yellow eyes. He also has three-fingered hands with claws and some strange metal jewelry that went along with his dark robe, which just dangled in the air. "will get a minion to search for the Chaos Emeralds, while you," he pointed to a green anthropomorphic hedgehog with green quills in clusters on his head. The two clusters in the middle pointed downward, while the two on each side of his head pointed up. He wore plain white gloves and blue boots that matched the color of his eyes. He also donned golden rings around his wrists and ankles, and had a white fluff of fur on his chest. "will get a protégé to teach your planet's 'Chaos abilities' to." They both nodded.  
The scientist, who was bald, had a long, gray mustache, and wore a white lab coat, said "Okay." He shook their hands. "It looks like Project: Shadow shall commence."

A few months later, two children bickered.  
"Come on, Abe! It can't be all bad," whined a young girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a blue dress.

The boy, known as Abraham, begged to differ. "Maria, you saw them! Grandpa is working with TWO aliens to create the next attempt for Project: Shadow! It's GOTTA be bad news!" The furious boy had light brown hair, a green left eye, a brown right eye, and wore a red t-shirt that had yellow stripes with jeans. He huffed, and the girl, Maria, just giggled a little.

"I'll let you believe what you want to believe. I'm going to go check on Project: Shadow. Goodbye, Abe!" With that, she ran off.

"Maria," Abraham shouted. He sighed, defeated, when he realized that she already turned the corner and started running through the halls of the space colony they lived in.

Maria knocked on the door. "Grandfather, are you in there?"

Her grandfather, known as Gerald, (or Professor Robotnik, as the scientists aboard the colony respectfully refer to him as) answered. "Hello, Maria! Please, come on in. I think my associates would like to meet you." He gestures for his granddaughter to enter, and she complied. When she got there, she was surprised to see the 'aliens' that Abraham mentioned.

"Why did you bring your granddaughter in here?! She may damage Shadow while he is still in development," the dark colored alien shouted. This frightened Maria and caused her to hide behind her grandfather, who just patted her head.

"Black Doom, you won't have to worry about her. She isn't here to cause trouble, and is very careful." He looked toward Maria. "Maria, don't be frightened. This is Black Doom, one of the people giving his DNA to create Project: Shadow. Remember how I told you that this will help cure you of your disease?" Maria's eyes widened at that. "He represents the Black Arms, a race of aliens that he leads."

"All on your own," Maria asked.

"Yes," Black Doom responded. "I am the supreme overlord of the Black Arms, the race that is currently conquering the galaxy."

Noticing Maria's uneasiness, the green hedgehog spoke up. "You don't want to frighten her more than you already are. That may make you lose the professor's trust." He turned to Maria. "Don't worry about him. He isn't here to harm you. Anyways, my name is Demeralme."

Maria lightened up. "Are you a talking porcupine?"

Demeralme chuckled. "I'm a hedgehog, actually. Only, I'm one that comes from Planet Mobius: a Mobian, if you prefer. I'm here to provide Shadow with self-defensive capabilities and his general form. In other words, he will be a Mobian hedgehog like me." Maria smiled.

"Do you wish to see how he's coming along," the professor asked. Maria nodded, surprised that Project: Shadow is a living being. Gerald took her further into the room and revealed to her a cloning tank. In it was a hedgehog that looked like Demeralme, only he looked younger and had different colors. The newest attempt at creating Project: Shadow was black, with red on his eye ridges where Demeralme's black would be, and had dark red stripes on his head quills, arms, and legs.

"He's so cute," Maria exclaimed, fascinated by the tiny artificial life form in the tank. Gerald chuckled.

"I suppose he is. He will be able to be released in six months. Then, after we run some tests and make sure he is okay, we will let you meet him." The young girl smiled at the small hoglet, before thanking the three in the room for letting her see the project and leaving.

Those six months progressed very slowly for Maria, and after what she told Abraham about what she saw, the young boy was even more reluctant to see any good that could come out of the project. Maria visiting Shadow became a regular occurrence, stopping by the room nearly every day. The cloned hedgehog matured quickly, becoming biologically eighteen in the month that he was supposed to be released in.

Eventually, it was the day. Maria was informed that she couldn't visit Shadow that day, and she didn't even need to be told what that meant. Abraham was worried, but while chasing Maria down the hall, decided that he just had to see what Shadow looked like, being too scared to go into the room himself.

The lad approached the green window of the door to the room, and was just in time to see the professor and Black Doom, with a cloning tank that was slowly rising from its horizontal position. It contained an older version of the creature Maria described. When the tank was fully upright, the hedgehog suddenly opened his eyes, revealing them to be a blood red color. Abraham's own eyes widened in horror at the sight.

"Abe, what are you doing," Maria asked as she turned around and noticed that Abraham wasn't chasing her anymore.

He tried to look like he didn't see anything. "Oh, nothing. Lets just get back to playing tag." His friend looked concerned, but shrugged it off as they continued their game.

Meanwhile, in the room, Gerald smiled as his creation exited the pod, landing on the floor in front of him. He was shaky at first, but eventually stood upright and kept his balance, though he needed to lean on the cloning tank for support. He wore the same rings Demeralme had, but his white gloves had black and red cuffs, and he had rocket skates fitted onto him.

"Welcome to the world, Shadow. My name is Professor Gerald Robotnik, your creator. An understanding of the English language should have been implanted in your brain. Please nod if you can understand me." To his delight, the hedgehog looked up at him and nodded his head. "Excellent! Now try speaking."

Shadow tried to speak, but all that came out of the black hedgehog's mouth was a series of coughs. "That's a shame," the professor said. "Your vocal cords must not be fully developed yet. Don't worry, though. They should be within a day or so. Anyways, we should probably get on with the tests. Shadow nodded again and tried to walk, but immediately fell over. "I suppose it must be rather hard to walk, considering you were just released from the tank. Come," he said, as he held out his hand. The hedgehog took it and got up, slowly learning to walk by observing and imitating Gerald's movements to the best of his ability.

There were multiple tests run on the black hedgehog. One involving testing his blood to make sure it was the same as Black Doom's, another testing the thickness of his bones and muscles, and some others that focused on his differences from Black Doom and Demeralme. There were more, but they were more forgettable than the others.

After the tests were done and Shadow was given a place to rest, Gerald went to go visit his granddaughter.

"Grandfather, when may I see Shadow," the curious girl asked.

"Tomorrow, sweetheart," Gerald responded. "He appears to be a bit worn out from his tests. Also, don't be surprised if he can't speak. His vocal cords aren't developed yet. He can understand our language, however."

Maria looked saddened. "Oh..."

Her grandfather placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you wanted to see him today, and I'm sorry you weren't able to, but he needs to rest up. Besides, maybe he will be able to speak by tomorrow." She visibly brightened.

"Thank you, Grandfather," she said as she hugged him. He hugged back lovingly.

"It's getting late. I think you may need rest, too. Now why don't you go to bed," Gerald suggested. She nodded and walked to her room. "What a lovely granddaughter I have. Shadow probably will need her as a friend."

It was finally the next day, and Maria got up early and rushed to the lab. The professor opened the door and smiled.

"Maria, you're just in time! We have Shadow in here right now. Would you like to meet him?"

"Of course," she exclaimed, brimming with excitement. Her grandfather chuckled and gestured for her to go in.

She saw Shadow sitting on a lab table near where Demeralme was standing. The black hedgehog's ear twitched at the sound of Maria's footsteps and he looked up to see her. Maria excitedly walked over to him.

"Hello, Shadow! My name is Maria! It's very nice to finally meet you!" She smiled at him, and his ruby red eyes stared into hers.

"...Ma...ri...a..." escaped his lips. Maria's smile grew from one of excitement into one of pure delight.

"You should feel honored that the first thing the ultimate life form said was your name," Demeralme said. He honestly hoped that his first word would be something along the lines of 'Chaos,' but the green Mobian supposed that beggars couldn't be choosers. Shadow spoke and that was all that mattered.

"I have a feeling that we're going to be good friends, Shadow," she said as she extended her hand to him and gave the hedgehog a friendly smile.

"Friends..." He stared at the hand for a moment, before taking it in his own and giving her a tiny smile back.

**Whether you loved this story or thought that it was the worst writing you have ever read, please review! Constructive criticism is requested from those who thought that this story did not live up to their expectations, and even those who did. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to continue this if people like it!**

**~Angie the Luxray**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, everyone! Sorry I was gone so long! I was busy...**

**Shadow: *rolls eyes* I doubt lazing around on your ass for weeks counts as being busy.**

**It does too!**

**Shadow: Whatever. *leaves***

**Anyways, I hope I didn't disappoint!**

As time went on, Shadow got to know more about Maria. She was kind, caring, curious, and extremely talkative. After a while, Shadow asked the professor if he could get a tour of the colony, and Gerald gave him permission, considering neither of them were talking about anything of scientific value. Maria cheerfully offered to be his guide.

Shadow had gotten better at walking, because that morning, Demeralme had taught him more about it. They shared the same body structure, aside from some minor biological differences caused by Shadow being partially created from Black Doom's blood, so it was easier to learn from him than the humans living on ARK. This helped Shadow to keep up with Maria as she showed him all the places that he needed to know. Shadow stated that the hallways got rather confusing, and Maria simply replied, "You get used to it, I guess."

A door opened.

"And this is my room," Maria said. Shadow just stood still. "Don't be shy, Shadow. Come on in!" The hedgehog hesitantly walked into the room. "I know it's not much, but I like it. Besides, there's something I have to show you!" Without warning, she grabbed his hand and rushed toward the window. What Shadow saw amazed him. It looked like a giant blue orb, with white wisps encircling it and large strangely shaped green blotches dotted it. Also, half of the orb was illuminated by what Shadow guessed was the Sun. The other half of what he saw, the right half, was much darker, but he could see yellow lights flickering on those green splotches of land.

"Wh...What is that," the dark-colored hedgehog asked.

Maria stared lovingly at the orb, face resting on her hands as she leaned against the windowsill. "That, Shadow, is Planet Earth. It's lovely, isn't it?

Shadow nodded, eyes wide and mouth agape. "What's down there?"

"Down there are more humans, like myself and Grandfather. They're not all scientists, though. They have many different occupations and cultures, and almost everyone leads a different life from everyone else." The girl sighed in wonder. "I've always wanted to visit Earth."

"Why can't you," Shadow questioned. Maria looked down.

"I have NIDS, or Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. If I go to Earth, I will probably die from the diseases down there because of my weak immune system."

"Is there any way you can be cured?"

"There's no known cure, but you were created to help cure me, Shadow."

Shadow was confused. "I was?"

Maria nodded. "Grandfather said so. He said that someday, after he researches the effects of your immortality long enough, there will be a cure for me, so I can go down to Earth." Shadow looked visibly relieved, and continued to stare at the planet.

After a few minutes, Maria turned to her companion. "Shadow?"

The hedgehog's ears perked and he looked up at his new friend. "Yes, Maria?"

"When I finally go down to Earth, I want you to come with me. Would you like that?"

Shadow stared for a moment, before smiling. "Then we will go to Earth together someday."

"Do you promise?" Maria held out her pinky.

Shadow looked confused for a second, before he extended his hand and wrapped his little finger around hers. "I promise."

Meanwhile in one of the other rooms, Demeralme was thinking to himself.

'This little 'break' is pointless! Shadow has spoken, so he should therefore be able to learn Chaos abilities by now! I should be teaching him Chaos Control, not letting him rest with some pathetic little girl!' He sighed and flopped onto his bed. 'I suppose the professor may have his best interests at heart, but I spent a year in this damn colony already just to get a protege and I don't wish to waste anymore time waiting!' Deciding that he should talk with Professor Gerald, he teleported to the lab.

"No, Demeralme. He has just woken up. We cannot rush him into your training so hastily. It would be unhealthy," the professor stated.

Demeralme folded his arms. "With all due respect, professor, I believe he should have been learning from me the second he was able to walk. He is biologically eighteen, and therefore should be able to learn and train just as well as, if not better than the average eighteen-year-old Mobian."

"Yes, but he needs time to adjust to living. Shadow will get three days, including this one, to get familiarized with his surroundings and his body. After that, you may train him as you please."

Demeralme smiled, but then looked around with a confused look on his face. "Where is Black Doom? Wasn't he here a while ago?"

Gerald pushed his glasses up. "He just recently left. His people need their leader. He only stayed to make sure Shadow was going to survive."

The green hedgehog nodded, before teleporting back to his room in a blue flash of light. Just three more days until he got what he came for...

**That's all, folks! At least...for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed this, and don't forget to favorite and comment if you did! Also, we may get to see some Abraham in the next chapter, so don't worry. I didn't forget about the fourth person I listed as a main character! XD**


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